Bishop Violet Fisher Guest Speaker At UMW Fall Meeting

St. John’s UMC in Hazlet hosted the Greater New Jersey United Methodist Women’s Annual Fall Meeting on Saturday, October 22, 2011.  Over 125 women, men and clergy attended this year’s meeting, including Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, the Conference Cabinet, Extended Cabinet, and Program Staff.  After a time of fellowship, Nancy Cook started the day with a meditation about God’s plan for us.  She reminded those in attendance that, “Things don’t always work out the way we planned but God has a plan.”

Following the meditation, GNJUMW President, Millie Grey, and GNJUMW Vice President, Carole Nelson, greeted the large crowd.  President Grey had the attendees recite the purpose of the United Methodist Women to remind everyone why they were there:

“The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose PURPOSE is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship; and to expand concepts of mission through participation in the global ministries of the church.”

Sharon Vogel of the Neighborhood Center of Camden thanked the UMW for their generous support and asked for continued partnership as the Neighborhood Center continues to grow its programs.  Rev. Pat Bruger of CUMAC/ECHO, located in Paterson, was unable to attend in person but sent a video message thanking the UMW for the strong support in the days, weeks, and months following Hurricane Irene.  Both women recognized the continued commitment of the United Methodist Women in supporting the programs both centers offer to their communities.

Sofia Joseph, recipient of the UMW Taize Scholarship, updated the UMW on how touched she was during her trip to Taize this past summer.  Joseph thanked the group for selecting her because it was an “almost indescribable experience.”
 After the business portion of the meeting, Bishop Devadhar introduced the guest speaker of the day, Bishop Violet Fisher.  Bishop Devadhar described Bishop Fisher as “a prayer warrior and a person who has a heart for the marginalized and the poor in our cities and the world.” 
Bishop Fisher’s message entitled, “Tell Me What Do You Have?” focused on the Bible passage from 2 Kings 4: 1-7 (NIV)

The Widow’s Olive Oil
 1 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

 2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
   “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”

 3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

 5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

   But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

 7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

Bishop Fisher expanded on this passage and related it to the present day, especially with the state of the economy today where so many people are losing their way of earning a living, their homes, and their livelihoods.  Despite being in hard economic and/or personal times, Bishop Fisher reminded the UMW, “God is faithful in our time of need and in our time of stress.” 

Everyone has something to offer, no matter how big or how small.  If we trust in the Lord, great things can happen.  As Bishop Fisher put it, “Little becomes much when you place it in the Master’s hands” and “We are God’s resources to transform the world.”  Very appropriately, she went on to quote the lyrics to the hymn, Pass It On:

It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That's how it is with God's Love,
Once you've experienced it,
Your spread the love to everyone
You want to pass it on.
 

As Bishop Fisher closed, she asked about the silent urges inside of each of us to do God’s work.  What is the urge inside of you? What excuses are you making to not step out on limb of faith to do those deeds or start those programs?  Doing God’s work is ageless.  Bishop Fisher put it perfectly when she said, “There’s no retirement from the Lord’s work.”